“They have transformed what began as an ambition to raise €1,000 to buy a few meals into a national operation that to date has delivered more than 18,500 meals to critical frontline workers nationwide,” he said.

More than 11,300 Irish people have contributed to Feed the Heroes, from a seven-year-old donating €5 of their pocket money to a €20,000 donation from Ireland international and Everton star, Seamus Coleman.

At the time of his donation, Coleman posted a message of solidarity, shared on social media.

“It is a tough time for all of us at the moment, for all Irish people, for all people around the world, but speaking for Irish people I know we are a very proud nation,” he said.

“We stick together, we work hard for each other and though I know it’s a tough time at the minute, we will get through this. Stay positive and keep fighting.��� Mr O’Flaherty, who has a tech start-up business in Dun Laoghaire, said the idea came to him when he saw a tweet that a takeaway had been delivered to the Mater Hospital.

He believes the massive response from people is a result of wanting to do something to help, while being stuck at home.

“I suppose there’s a feeling of powerlessness. We come from a generation where everything we want is at our fingertips and then comes along a virus that we can do nothing to stop,” he said.

“Also, every one of us has friends or family involved in the front line, we see how they work tirelessly at great risk to themselves and how they’ve doubled down on that work.”

“Every single euro makes a difference and we take the responsibility entrusted to us by all our donors very seriously,” said Mr O’Flaherty.

“We now have 20 volunteers co-ordinating our efforts along with an advisory board to ensure we are operating to the highest corporate governance principles.

“Our mission is simple, to get food to Ireland’s critical frontline workers and our intention now is to continue to grow the Fund to enable us to support Ireland’s frontline heroes for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency.”

He said the meals have been greatly appreciated by those who receive them.

“Not just for the food itself but also for what it represents - a symbol of our solidarity with and gratitude to those combating Ireland’s biggest ever public health emergency,” he said.

The organisation partners with restaurants and takeaways, caterers and commercial kitchens to prepare and deliver the meals and co-ordinates with the frontline teams to ensure they get to where they are needed.

So far meals have been delivered to staff at the Covid-19 testing Centres, HSE contact tracing, the National Ambulance Service and the Fire Brigade as well as hospital workers.

It now has a team of 20 volunteers and an advisory board.

Each meal costs around €7 to prepare and deliver. Bigger operators have been refusing to take payment for orders, delivering for free and asking that the group use smaller, more vulnerable businesses.

Feed The Heroes go fund me page through can be accessed through www.feedtheheroes.com. Corporate donations can be made by contacting corporatedonations@feedtheheroes.com .